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Gayle McLeod

Enthusiastic family-feeder. Intrepid home cook. Recipe maker. Picture taker. Sharing everyday recipes that fuel our family life.

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Another view of that delish homemade lemony pasta

Another view of that delish homemade lemony pasta with asparagus I’ve been going on about 👏🙌

The last part of this meal was a crunchy, toasty, hazelnut pangrattato with lemon zest and parsley. This rustic breadcrumb topping takes just minutes to make and we regularly add variations of it to pasta and even salads for an extra hit of texture and flavour. Here’s my recipe but it’s super forgiving. Feel free to use it as a guide ☺️

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• ⅓ cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• ⅓ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
• zest from one lemon, finely grated or minced

Heat a skillet over medium-low heat and add the olive oil and hazelnuts. Stir for 2-3 minutes until the nuts are slightly toasted, then add the breadcrumbs. Stir well to coat the crumbs with the oil, then keep stirring/tossing frequently to ensure the breadcrumbs toast evenly. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes, then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir for another 1-2 minutes or until the garlic is fragrant but not yet golden. Transfer to a bowl then add the parsley and lemon zest. Toss to combine and try not to eat it ALL STRAIGHT OUTTA THE BOWL 😆 It’s seriously so good!

A little about the image details... I thought that a diptych would be fun to create now that I have a macro lens🕺🏻👏

Pasta on the left was shot with 100mm then I switched to my 50mm for the wider, overhead view of the final dish 🤓 Lighting set up was a little different between shots... I’ll post a BTS of the set up in my stories 👍

#diptych #homemadepasta #asparagus #foodstylist #recipeshare

Satisfaction level 💯🙌🤩 Homemade, lemon-sc

Satisfaction level 💯🙌🤩 Homemade, lemon-scented pasta to go with that beautiful asparagus... #springfood

Sorry (not sorry) for the frequency of macro shots but, SOMEBODY 🙋🏻‍♀️ got a sweet new lens 😆😜

I’ve wanted a 100mm macro lens for so long, but didn’t need one for the type of work I was getting. Well, that WANT turned into a NEED recently and so if you’re looking for me, I’ll just be over here searching for ALL THE TEXTURE 🤓📸

I feel like half my days are spent trying to justify prop and gear purchases 🤣 Anyone else?!

Recipe via @pastasocialclub 🙌

Feels appropriate for a Monday 🌱 These perky a

Feels appropriate for a Monday 🌱

These perky asparagus tips were simply roasted in a hot oven and tossed with homemade pasta for a tasty meal on the weekend. More to come on that but, another favourite way to enjoy it is to wrap each stalk with a slice of prosciutto and roast until crispy. So. Dang. Tasty. 👌

What’s your go-to recipe for asparagus season?

Hope your week is off to a great start ☺️💚

#asparagus #springeats #freshfood #foodphoto

Want to come along and walk through some of the st

Want to come along and walk through some of the styling decisions I made for this shot?

Let’s do it!

💭 A dark brown surface would normally be my first choice, but I wanted a lighter, fresher vibe as we bridge seasons between winter and spring. I grabbed this warm pinkish one and changed my bowl choice from black to a warm grey.

💭 These bowls are deeper than I wanted – shallow bowls are a better choice for styling soups where you want the components to be visible. I used small overturned bowls in the bottom to take up some of the space and provide a nice platform to rest the noodles on.

💭 The noodles are intentionally undercooked so that I could arrange them into tidy twisted knots without them breaking apart and leaving loose ends that could look distracting.

💭 To create a relaxed feeling I add garnishes in layers… Sprinkle on some of the sprouts, then green onion, then herbs, jalapeños – but don’t stop there. Go back again to add a few more sprouts, onions, and so on. Things look a lot less “deliberate” this way.

💭 Both bowls of soup look similar, but the bottom one was my hero. I added the dark grey plate under that bowl to create more visual weight.

💭 Finally, the protein I wanted to use didn’t work out as planned, so I had to think fast. I whipped up these lemongrass meatballs in the air fryer in less than 20 minutes and I think they worked even better for the shot. Oh, and they were super delish too! I’ll put the recipe in the comments 👇

So, there you have it! I would love to know if you would have done anything differently. I’m always down for new tips and tricks!

#foodstyling #noodlesoup #airfryermeatballs #foodinspiration

I’ve been going through my image library in prep

I’ve been going through my image library in preparation for a portfolio update and just came across this beauty. I hope it makes the cut 🤞🎬

Also, can someone tell me how many sleeps it is until rhubarb season? 😍🤗

#eatprettythings #fresh #foodphotographer

Margaritas on the rocks please, but make ‘em spi

Margaritas on the rocks please, but make ‘em spicy 🔥✌️

If your week was anything like mine, I’ll just head straight to the recipe so you can get yourself into this marg situation as quickly as possible 😅🤣

While I also enjoy a tequila-forward classic, I decided to have some fun with this one. First step is to make a rich jalapeño syrup:

Heat 1 cup turbinado sugar and 1 cup water with two, fresh jalapeños (sliced) in a small saucepan. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 15 mins. Turn off the heat and let cool.

Jalapeño Margaritas (serves you and friend)

• 4 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 oz tequila
• 2 oz triple sec
• 1 oz jalapeño simple syrup
Put coarse salt mixed with Tajín on a shallow plate and run an extra wedge of lime around the rim of 2 glasses. Dip the rim of each glass into the salt then fill ¾ full with ice.

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice and shake for about 30 seconds – until the outside of shaker is frosty and cold. Strain into prepped glasses. If you like a little extra heat, add a couple slices of fresh jalapeños to the shaker.
Enjoy!

Head to my stories to see the photo from the first time I shot the base margarita recipe and I’ll also post the info for the ice maker I use to make the prettiest clear ice with ease 😉 Happy Friday!

#cheers #imbibegram #margarita #tequila #beveragephotography

My not-so-subtle reminder to get your Vitamin C to

My not-so-subtle reminder to get your Vitamin C today 🍊🍋🧡🤩

I had so many intentions to bake something spectacular with all the citrus I bought, but those plans were usurped by other plans of a different nature–so we’re eating all of it, straight up, out of hand and maybe it’s even better that way. I’m still holding on to the idea I’ll have time to candy some of the leftover peels, so we’ll see how that goes 🤷‍♀️

I hope the weekend was enjoyed by all, in some way. It was a holiday for us yesterday, so… Happy Meusday 🤣😁

#citrusseason #eatprettythings #fresh #foodphotographer #foodstylist

Lately, my martinis have been turning out better t

Lately, my martinis have been turning out better than my cakes... which makes me wonder if my baking fails are because my martinis are so good 🤔🤣🍸

I know it’s not quite Friday yet but, I have to hit the ground running tomorrow and wanted to wish you all a Happy Friday just the same 💚

And, if you’re curious ... I worked a little magic in photoshop with this one. I used a small handheld mirror placed opposite my light source and moved it around between shots to help bounce light back onto different areas of the scene. This is a composite of three separate images: one with the best over all lighting, the next has the best light and detail on the left side of the glass, and for the third image, I moved the focal point from the garnish to the front edge of the glass to capture the condensation in better detail. I made a couple of other tweaks too... can you guess what they might be?

#martini #gin #vermouth #imbibegram #beveragephotography

How funny is it that after all the composed photos

How funny is it that after all the composed photos I planned, it’s the shot I didn’t intend to take that’s my favourite 😍🍊💯

This image pretty much sums my week: messy but with good things somewhere there in the middle. I love it and I hope someone out there shares my enthusiasm for the imperfect ☺️

Wishing you all a happy Friday! I’m going to attempt a citrus curd tart this weekend with a mile-high meringue like I’ve seen @zoebakes do. Wish me luck!

#citrusseason #eatprettythings #foodstylist #candidmoments

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